When my children were younger, it was often necessary to simply tell them not to do something such as playing in the road or touching a hot stove because they couldn’t understand the consequences of those actions. As they have matured, they have come to understand exactly why they shouldn’t touch a hot stove or play in the street. Yet there always seems to be some new area where they just don’t understand the why’s of avoiding, or the need for certain actions.

I have found that the Bible is full of similar “just do (or do not do) this until you understand why” commands. For example, quarantine was required for leprosy patients; we didn’t know why until the 1900’s. The commandment against coveting is another such instance where most adults still do not understand why coveting is a problem. (It leads to debt, adultery, arguments, etc.)

As a child learns the why’s of simple instructions we consider that to be a sign of growth towards maturity. If a child has trouble learning those why’s we consider them to have some sort of mental defect, leading to many expensive consultations with experts.

As adults we should also be continuing to mature and learn the why’s of more complicated subjects. The consequences of such actions are rarely as immediately obvious as touching a hot stove. Yet, when mature adults study such a topic, the why’s can usually be discovered.

For example, the Bible condemns homosexuality, but it doesn’t specify the why’s. That’s the topic Probe Ministries is addressing this week in their series of radio shorts. You can find their transcript here: “Same Sex Marriage: A Façade of Normalcy”. If you don’t know why God condemns same sex “marriage” or if you need a refresher, it’s definitely worth reading.